1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle brake pedal device, and more particularly, to a vehicle brake pedal device configured to suppress a backward movement of a brake pedal when a partition wall (dash panel) is moved inside a vehicle cabin as a result of a front collision of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
The vehicle brake pedal device of this type is described, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2014-40201. In the vehicle brake pedal device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2014-40201, a brake pedal device including a brake arm with a brake pedal pad is arranged on a vehicle cabin side of (behind) a dash panel, which is a partition wall, and a braking hydraulic pressure generation device including a brake booster and a master cylinder is arranged in front of the dash panel. Further, a link mechanism linked to the brake arm and the braking hydraulic pressure generation device are coupled to each other via a pushrod.
In the vehicle brake pedal device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2014-40201, the brake arm is swingably supported by a pedal bracket fixed to the dash panel. A fixed bracket is arranged behind the pedal bracket. The fixed bracket is fixed to the pedal bracket and a vehicle body component (instrumental panel reinforcement) arranged behind the pedal bracket. A coupling arm is rotatably supported by the fixed bracket. The coupling arm is coupled to the brake arm through intermediation of an arm link. The coupling arm is coupled to the pushrod. Further, a rotation arm is rotatably supported by the coupling arm.
Incidentally, when a vehicle having the vehicle brake pedal device, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2014-40201, mounted thereon collides with another vehicle located in front of that vehicle, the dash panel is deformed backward (moved inside the vehicle cabin).
Then, a relative distance between the dash panel and the fixed bracket is reduced, and the fixed bracket is thus brought into contact with the coupling arm from behind. Therefore, the coupling arm is rotated forward, and the brake arm linked to the coupling arm via the arm link is rotated forward (toward a pedal depression direction) with respect to the pedal bracket.
Further, at this time, the fixed bracket is also brought into contact with the rotation arm, and the rotation arm is thus rotated. Then, the rotation arm collides with a middle part of the pushrod, to thereby bend the pushrod. Therefore, compared to a case in which the pushrod is not bent, the coupling arm is easily rotated in a direction in which the brake arm rotates forward.
In this way, when the dash panel is deformed backward, the brake pedal is rotated forward (in the brake depression direction) with respect to the pedal bracket. Thus, a backward movement amount of the brake pedal pad can be small even though the dash panel is deformed backward.
In the vehicle brake pedal device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2014-40201, in order to secure the forward rotation of the brake arm when the dash panel is deformed backward, the pushrod is bent by the rotation arm.
However, in a small vehicle (such as a minivan), a fore-and-aft length of the pushrod is small, thereby being difficult to bend the pushrod by the rotation arm. In other words, this brake pedal device cannot be mounted on this type of vehicle.